The present invention relates to hand punches such as are commonly used for punching two (or more) openings through the margins of paper sheets before inserting them into a ring binder.
A large number of different types of hand punches of the foregoing type are now in use. Generally, they include a base formed with punch pin openings, a plurality of apertured lugs or other similar elements fixed to the base for guiding the punch pins, and a lever arm pivotably mounted on a pivotal axis parallel to the line of punch pins, i.e. the length of the base, the lever arm being pivotted downwardly in order to move the punch pins downwardly through the openings in the base and thereby to punch a paper sheet inserted between the punch pins and the apertured base. Since the hand lever, in such a hand punch construction, is pivotably mounted on an axis parallel to the length of the base, it is usually required that the base be quite wide in order to stably support it when the hand lever is manually depressed. Such hand punches therefore generally require large constructions which are expensive to produce, inconvenient to use, and bulky in the space required when not in use.